let's go back to washington now, though, and little apparent progress on the so-called fiscal cliff talks. actually that's putting it mildly. it appears both sides may be digging in their heels. joining me now, congressional reporter for the washington "post" ed o'keefe and washington reporter for the hill, amie parnes. amie let's get with the president's proposal first. it includes $1.6 trillion tax hikes over ten years, that's raising rates on the top 2%, making over $250,000. now this proposal also calls for $50 billion in immediate stimulus, and $400 million in long-term savings from the entitlement program. the gop says, this is just a wish list for the democrats and a nonstarter. can you explain where we are in all this? >> no, not really, i can't. i mean it's all a big mess right now, you know, they're in a stalemate apparently. the president is kind of optimistic. he says he's optimistic that there's going to be a deal by christmas. reporters are keeping our fingers crossed so we can actually head home for the holidays. i think washington is, too. but i think that, you know, every